Genetics of guanylyl cyclase pathways in the cochlea and their influence on hearing.

Although hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit in Western societies, there are no successful pharmacological treatments for this disorder. Recent experiments have demonstrated that manipulation of intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentrations can have both beneficial and harmful effects on hearing. In this review, we will examine the role of cGMP as a key second messenger involved in many aspects of cochlear function and discuss the known functions of downstream effectors of cGMP in sound processing.

Neuroscientists' classroom visits positively impact student attitudes.

The primary recommendation of the 2010 President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report on K-12 education was to inspire more students so that they are motivated to study science. Scientists' visits to classrooms are intended to inspire learners and increase their interest in science, but verifications of this impact are largely qualitative. Our primary goal was to evaluate the impact of a longstanding Brain Awareness classroom visit program focused on increasing learners understanding of their own brains.

Service learning in rural communities. Medical students teach children about the brain.

Incorporating service learning into a medical school curriculum can have significant benefits for both the students and the communities they serve. The University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth Campus has integrated an established neuroscience literacy program into a community service requirement for second-year medical students. Since 2005, medical students taking part in the program have made presentations about the brain and how it works to more than 10,000 elementary school students throughout Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

Morphology of neurons cultured from subdivisions of the mouse cochlear nucleus.

This study was designed to characterize the dendritic organization of cochlear nucleus (CN) cells grown in primary cell culture and to assess differences among cultures grown from different regions of CN. Cultures were prepared from postnatal mice and processed using microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) or gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) immunohistochemistry. CN neurons were successfully cultured from preparations grown from either the anteroventral subdivision of the nucleus (AVCN), the posterior region [posteroventral (PVCN) and dorsal (DCN) subnuclei], or the whole CN, although the cultured neurons did not exhibit complex dendritic patterns characteristic of CN neurons in vivo.